diff --git a/libs/x-content/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/xcontent/AbstractObjectParser.java b/libs/x-content/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/xcontent/AbstractObjectParser.java
index b53885f2262d9..e76116ef7376e 100644
--- a/libs/x-content/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/xcontent/AbstractObjectParser.java
+++ b/libs/x-content/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/xcontent/AbstractObjectParser.java
@@ -240,6 +240,24 @@ public <T> void declareObjectArray(BiConsumer<Value, List<T>> consumer, ContextP
         declareFieldArray(consumer, (p, c) -> objectParser.parse(p, c), field, ValueType.OBJECT_ARRAY);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * like {@link #declareObjectArray(BiConsumer, ContextParser, ParseField)}, but can also handle single null values,
+     * in which case the consumer isn't called
+     */
+    public <
+        T> void declareObjectArrayOrNull(
+        BiConsumer<Value, List<T>> consumer,
+        ContextParser<Context, T> objectParser,
+        ParseField field
+    ) {
+        declareField(
+            (value, list) -> { if (list != null) consumer.accept(value, list); },
+            (p, c) -> p.currentToken() == XContentParser.Token.VALUE_NULL ? null : parseArray(p, () -> objectParser.parse(p, c)),
+            field,
+            ValueType.OBJECT_ARRAY_OR_NULL
+        );
+    }
+
     public void declareStringArray(BiConsumer<Value, List<String>> consumer, ParseField field) {
         declareFieldArray(consumer, (p, c) -> p.text(), field, ValueType.STRING_ARRAY);
     }
diff --git a/libs/x-content/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/xcontent/ObjectParser.java b/libs/x-content/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/xcontent/ObjectParser.java
index 1ed6627e51575..26b77551909c0 100644
--- a/libs/x-content/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/xcontent/ObjectParser.java
+++ b/libs/x-content/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/common/xcontent/ObjectParser.java
@@ -641,6 +641,7 @@ public enum ValueType {
         OBJECT(START_OBJECT),
         OBJECT_OR_NULL(START_OBJECT, VALUE_NULL),
         OBJECT_ARRAY(START_OBJECT, START_ARRAY),
+        OBJECT_ARRAY_OR_NULL(START_OBJECT, START_ARRAY, VALUE_NULL),
         OBJECT_OR_BOOLEAN(START_OBJECT, VALUE_BOOLEAN),
         OBJECT_OR_STRING(START_OBJECT, VALUE_STRING),
         OBJECT_OR_LONG(START_OBJECT, VALUE_NUMBER),
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/BoolQueryBuilder.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/BoolQueryBuilder.java
index d932df81f3398..2563328326e3c 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/BoolQueryBuilder.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/BoolQueryBuilder.java
@@ -273,16 +273,16 @@ private static void doXArrayContent(ParseField field, List<QueryBuilder> clauses
 
     private static final ObjectParser<BoolQueryBuilder, Void> PARSER = new ObjectParser<>("bool", BoolQueryBuilder::new);
     static {
-        PARSER.declareObjectArray((builder, clauses) -> clauses.forEach(builder::must), (p, c) -> parseInnerQueryBuilder(p),
+        PARSER.declareObjectArrayOrNull((builder, clauses) -> clauses.forEach(builder::must), (p, c) -> parseInnerQueryBuilder(p),
             MUST);
-        PARSER.declareObjectArray((builder, clauses) -> clauses.forEach(builder::should), (p, c) -> parseInnerQueryBuilder(p),
+        PARSER.declareObjectArrayOrNull((builder, clauses) -> clauses.forEach(builder::should), (p, c) -> parseInnerQueryBuilder(p),
             SHOULD);
-        PARSER.declareObjectArray((builder, clauses) -> clauses.forEach(builder::mustNot), (p, c) -> parseInnerQueryBuilder(p),
+        PARSER.declareObjectArrayOrNull((builder, clauses) -> clauses.forEach(builder::mustNot), (p, c) -> parseInnerQueryBuilder(p),
             MUST_NOT);
-        PARSER.declareObjectArray((builder, clauses) -> clauses.forEach(builder::filter), (p, c) -> parseInnerQueryBuilder(p),
+        PARSER.declareObjectArrayOrNull((builder, clauses) -> clauses.forEach(builder::filter), (p, c) -> parseInnerQueryBuilder(p),
             FILTER);
         PARSER.declareBoolean(BoolQueryBuilder::adjustPureNegative, ADJUST_PURE_NEGATIVE);
-        PARSER.declareField(BoolQueryBuilder::minimumShouldMatch, (p, c) -> p.text(),
+        PARSER.declareField(BoolQueryBuilder::minimumShouldMatch, (p, c) -> p.textOrNull(),
             MINIMUM_SHOULD_MATCH, ObjectParser.ValueType.VALUE);
         PARSER.declareString(BoolQueryBuilder::queryName, NAME_FIELD);
         PARSER.declareFloat(BoolQueryBuilder::boost, BOOST_FIELD);
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/BoolQueryBuilderTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/BoolQueryBuilderTests.java
index 6ee301510b58f..efe252bb36442 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/BoolQueryBuilderTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/index/query/BoolQueryBuilderTests.java
@@ -284,6 +284,36 @@ public void testMinimumShouldMatchNumber() throws IOException {
         assertEquals("1", builder.minimumShouldMatch());
     }
 
+    public void testMinimumShouldMatchNull() throws IOException {
+        String query = "{\"bool\" : {\"must\" : { \"term\" : { \"field\" : \"value\" } }, \"minimum_should_match\" : null } }";
+        BoolQueryBuilder builder = (BoolQueryBuilder) parseQuery(query);
+        assertEquals(null, builder.minimumShouldMatch());
+    }
+
+    public void testMustNull() throws IOException {
+        String query = "{\"bool\" : {\"must\" : null } }";
+        BoolQueryBuilder builder = (BoolQueryBuilder) parseQuery(query);
+        assertTrue(builder.must().isEmpty());
+    }
+
+    public void testMustNotNull() throws IOException {
+        String query = "{\"bool\" : {\"must_not\" : null } }";
+        BoolQueryBuilder builder = (BoolQueryBuilder) parseQuery(query);
+        assertTrue(builder.mustNot().isEmpty());
+    }
+
+    public void testShouldNull() throws IOException {
+        String query = "{\"bool\" : {\"should\" : null } }";
+        BoolQueryBuilder builder = (BoolQueryBuilder) parseQuery(query);
+        assertTrue(builder.should().isEmpty());
+    }
+
+    public void testFilterNull() throws IOException {
+        String query = "{\"bool\" : {\"filter\" : null } }";
+        BoolQueryBuilder builder = (BoolQueryBuilder) parseQuery(query);
+        assertTrue(builder.filter().isEmpty());
+    }
+
     /**
      * test that unknown query names in the clauses throw an error
      */